It had taken me hours to finally fall asleep, only to be woken up by my phone ringing. Rolling over, I grabbed my cell phone off my nightstand and squinted against the light of the screen. It was Will. My little cousin. Shit. Not again.

“What?” I snarled into the phone, already knowing why he was calling. He had either run away again and was on his way to my house, or he was already at my house and needed to get inside. My mother’s sister was a bitch. A raging bitch. I understood that completely, but the kid couldn’t keep running away. Especially to here.

“I’m outside,” he said.

“Shit, Will. What is it this time?” I asked, throwing the covers back and searching for a pair of discarded sweats to pull on.

“She’s making me go to camp. All f**king summer,” he replied. “In Ireland!”

Which translated into: she wanted a summer free of the burden of motherhood and was getting ready to ship him off. It would probably be the best summer of his life. A summer free of her.

I ended the call and threw the phone down before making my way downstairs to the front door. Opening it, I winced at the sight of Will holding an overnight bag as if I would actually let him move in. I had raised one kid; I wasn’t raising another.

“You’re going home in the morning. You will f**king love Ireland. Go to Grant’s room for the night. Sleep there,” I grumbled, closing the door behind him.

“I don’t even speak Irish,” he complained.

How the f**k had this kid made it to high school? “They speak English, you dipshit,” I said, slapping him on the back of the head. “I’m exhausted. You woke me up. Now, go the f**k to sleep.”

He nodded and slumped as if I had just ended his world. I ignored the pouting and followed him up the stairs. This wasn’t a first for us. Will ran away to my place whenever I was nearby. His mother liked to visit Rosemary Beach in the summers, so it happened most often then.

“You ever been to Ireland?” he asked, as he reached the door to the room he would be crashing in for the night.

“Yep. Gorgeous country. Now, go to sleep,” I replied, then headed back up to bed.

He was going home tomorrow, but I’d have to call Grant to come get him. As soon as I got to my aunt’s and he started fighting with her, I would cave and bring him back here with me.

Grant would be able to take him home. He had done it for me more than once.

CHAPTER NINE

My bedroom door slammed, and I sat up in bed, rubbing my face and trying to block out the sunlight.

“He’s back home,” Grant announced.

“Thanks,” I muttered. I had texted Grant last night about Will’s appearance and asked if he’d take Will home before he went to work that morning.

“Little shit is a handful. He tried to take Blaire home with him.” Grant chuckled.

At the sound of her name, I dropped my hand and looked at him. “She still here?” I asked.

Grant nodded his head toward the windows. “Out there. In a f**king bikini. I may stay here all day instead of going to work, if you don’t mind. Besides, you owe me one for taking Will home and dealing with the evil witch.”

I grabbed my discarded sweats and yanked them on quickly before walking over to the window.

Miles and miles of empty beach stretched just beyond my front yard. Blaire was lying out there with her eyes closed and her face tilted toward the sunshine. Yeah . . . Grant’s ass was going to work. He wasn’t staying here to sit around and stare at her all day.

“She’s gonna burn,” Grant said in a hushed whisper, and I tore my gaze off Blaire to see him staring down at her just as reverently as I was. Fuck that.

“Don’t look,” I snapped, and moved back from the window.

Grant let out a laugh. “What the hell does that mean, ‘Don’t look’?”

It meant not to f**king look. “I don’t . . . just . . . you remember who she is. She’ll hate us, and she’ll leave soon. So don’t.” I wasn’t sure what I was saying. I just wanted him to stop looking at her. She was barely covered up, and all her smooth skin was right there for anyone to see. I didn’t want anyone to see it.

“She won’t hate us, just you. And Nan. And her father. But I didn’t do shit,” Grant said.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He was doing this on purpose. He wanted to see if I reacted to her. He was trying to piss me off. “Don’t you have work to do?” I asked calmly.

Grant glanced back at the window and shrugged. “Dude, I work for my dad. I’m the boss. I can take off when an emergency comes up. Besides, aren’t we celebrating Nan’s birthday tonight?”

He was baiting me. Reminding myself of that, I walked over to the closet and found a pair of board shorts. I was going out there. She might not be wearing sunblock, and she needed it. Her skin would burn. I would hate for her to burn her skin.

“You going for a swim?” Grant asked teasingly.

I didn’t look back at him. “Go to work, Grant. Nan’s party is tonight,” I replied, and slammed the bathroom door behind me. I had forgotten that I was giving Nan a party for her birthday tonight. Blaire was making me forget everything.

“You’re playing with fire, man. Like massive flames that will eat you up! Should’ve let me have her. This ain’t gonna be pretty,” he called out loudly enough that I could hear him through the door.

“You don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about. No one gets her. She’ll be leaving soon,” I yelled back.

Grant’s laugh faded away as he left my room. He was right. This was fire, and I couldn’t seem to get away from it. I kept moving closer, knowing it was going to consume me if I wasn’t careful.

I didn’t think about what I was doing. I just changed and headed outside to check on her. “Please tell me you have sunblock on,” I said as I sank down onto the sand beside her.

She covered her eyes from the sun before opening them and looking over at me. She didn’t respond. Had I woken her up?

“You are wearing sunblock, aren’t you?” I asked.

She nodded and pulled herself into a sitting position on the small bath towel she was using. Her body was distracting as hell.

“Good. I’d hate to see that smooth, creamy skin turn pink,” I replied before I could stop myself.

“I, uh, put some on before I came out here.”

I really should have looked away from her, but that seemed impossible at the moment. The tops of her br**sts were right there, swelling over her bikini top. If she were anyone else, I would have no problem reaching over and tugging the small piece of fabric down until I could see her nipple. Then I’d . . . no! Dammit. I needed to focus on something else.

“You not working today?” I asked.

“It’s my day off.”

“How’s the job going?”

This time, she didn’t reply right away. I watched her as she stared up at me. She wasn’t paying attention to my words so much as she was studying my face. I liked that. Too damn much. “Uh, what?” she asked as her face turned slightly pink.

“How is the job going?” I asked again. I wasn’t able to keep the amusement out of my voice.

She sat up straighter and tried to look less interested in me. “It’s going good. I like it.”

The guys who no doubt flirted with her and gave her ridiculous tips annoyed me. “I bet you do,” I said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

I let my gaze travel down her body slowly. “You know what you look like, Blaire. Not to mention that damn sweet smile of yours. The male golfers are paying you well.”

She didn’t get angry or snap at me. Instead, she looked surprised. I turned my attention to the water. I didn’t need to look at her. She distracted me. I forgot about everything else when I was focused on her. Remembering why she was here and that I’d had a hand in her pain should have made it easy enough to stay focused. But she made me forget everything. One bat of her eyelashes, and I was lost.

I had been so damn stupid back then. Asking Abe why he was so willing to leave his family of sixteen years for a daughter he had ignored for even longer would have made sense. But I hadn’t asked him. I had just been thankful when he showed up. But the as**ole had left a broken family behind. A young girl alone to take care of her mother.

“How long ago did your mom pass away?” I asked her. I suddenly needed to know how long she had been struggling alone. It wasn’t like I could fix it now. I just wanted to know.

“Thirty-six days ago,” she murmured.

Fuck. She’d lost her mother a little more than a month ago. She hadn’t even had a chance to mourn. “Did your dad know she was sick?” I asked. I would kill him. Someone needed to make the bastard pay. He hurt everything he touched.

“Yes. He knew. I also called him the day she passed away. He didn’t answer. I left a message.”

I had never hated anyone the way I hated Abe Wynn at that moment. “Do you hate him?” I asked. She should. Hell, I hated him enough for both of us. When I beat his face in, I would do it for her. For her mother. And I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop.

“Sometimes,” she said.

I hadn’t expected the truth. Admitting that you hated your father couldn’t be easy. Unable to stop myself, I reached over and slipped my pinkie around hers. I couldn’t hold her hand. That was too much. Too intimate. But I had to do something. She needed some reassurance that she wasn’t alone. Even if I was the last person on earth who deserved to be there for her, I was going to be the one. I just had to find a way to do it and fix this hell I’d created.

“I’m having a party tonight. It’s Nan, my sister’s, birthday. I always give her a party. It may not be your scene, but you’re invited to attend if you want to.”

“You have a sister?”

I thought she knew that already, but when I thought back to the night Blaire had arrived, I realized that Nan had kept her distance and hadn’t actually met Blaire. “Yeah,” I replied.

“Grant said you were an only child,” she said, watching me carefully.

Grant had talked to her about me. He didn’t need me to explain anything to her. I wanted to protect her from the truth. I moved my hand away from her. “Grant really has no business telling you my business. No matter how damn bad he wants in your panties,” I said, before turning and walking back to the house. Why had I let that get to me? Dammit.

CHAPTER TEN

Nan had hired a party planner. I stood at the top of the stairs and watched as the decorating crew hauled in white roses by the truck-load. Did she think this was her wedding? What the hell?

“I don’t want to know what this party is costing you. Here,” Grant said, as he walked up behind me and shoved a glass of what smelled and looked like bourbon into my hand. “Drink it. You’re gonna need it.”

I took a long drink and let the smoothness of the liquor coat my throat. It didn’t make the fact that I was about to be faced with all of Nan’s friends any easier. Normally, when she had parties here, I limited the people she could invite. Tonight I had given her no limits. I was dreading that. All of f**king Rosemary Beach was likely to show up.

“The princess has ordered roses, I see,” Grant said, amused, as he leaned against the banister and watched the activity below.

“It seems that way,” I said. I was still pissed at him for talking to Blaire about me. I knew he wouldn’t tell her anything she didn’t need to know, but it still bothered me.

“Did you invite Blaire?” Grant asked, trying to sound casual.

“Did you expect me to make her hide under the stairs all night?” I replied. Because, honestly, I had thought about it. Inviting her to this damn thing only meant I had to watch her closely. Guys would be all over her, and girls would be vicious. She needed protection from both.

“Well, I wasn’t really sure. This is Nan’s party,” he reminded me, as if I needed reminding.

“It’s at my house,” I said, shooting him an annoyed glare.

Grant chuckled and shook his head. “Damn. Never thought I’d see you put someone else before Nan.”

“Don’t,” I warned him. “Don’t go there. I’m just being nice. Nothing more.”

Grant cocked an eyebrow, which he knew annoyed me. “Really?”

I slammed my glass down on the railing and walked back to my room. I wasn’t in the mood to watch any more of this or listen to Grant. It was going to be a long night.

One would think that Nan was the daughter of royalty, the way my house looked once the decorators were through. I moved through the rooms, keeping my eyes on the kitchen and, when I could, the pantry door. I hadn’t seen Blaire the rest of the day, but I knew she was here. I’d watched her while she’d lain out on the beach long after I’d left. I’d watched her swim in the waves and then take a walk. Hell, I’d even watched her read a book.

When she had finally picked up her towel and headed back to the house, I had stood up from my relaxed position on the sofa facing the wall of windows and went to get ready for tonight. I had wanted to make sure I was down here when she came out of her room for the party.

The party was getting packed, and the music was getting louder. Still no sign of Blaire. I wondered if she was scared to walk out into this. Should I let her stay tucked away in her room safely? Or did I need to go get her?

“I’ll keep my eyes on the pantry door while you go outside and get some blond surfer dude off the damn railing before he falls to his death,” Grant said in my ear, before shoving me toward the balcony.